Just Like You
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: By luck of the draw, Amber picks her brother to be her partner on a project called "Just Like You," in which the participants have to determine their similarities to their chosen partners. In doing so, Amber and James will come to discover that despite their differences, they may be more similar than they think.


Just Like You

Summary: By luck of the draw, Amber picks her brother to be her partner on a project called "Just Like You," in which the participants have to live according to their partners for a whole day. In doing so, Amber and James will come to discover that despite their differences, they may be more similar than they think.

Disclaimer: I don't own our beloved show… :)

A/N: So here's my next story, finally. I meant to get this out before Thanksgiving, but it didn't happen. Sorry! :D Don't worry. James and Amber aren't the _only_ focus of this story, but they do constitute a pretty significant amount. I mean…just look at the summary. Lol. While these two have been paired together, Sofia's partner may be a bit more surprising. ;)

A/N 2: I wanted to answer a question I received on my story "Never Forgotten." A reader named frazerd96 pointed out that Amber is usually the one in my stories to help out Desmond. Good eye. ;) I have plans for a role reversal down the line, so keep an eye out for that. Thanks for ALL of your reviews here lately. They mean a lot.

"All right, children," Ms. Flora announced, calming down her students as they finally settled after having completed their group projects. "I have an announcement before you leave. I have a partner project I'd like you to conduct before Friday. It's a project called 'Just Like You,' in which you and your partner discover the traits you share in common."

"Oh, yay," Hildegard remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes discretely and making Clio giggle. "What fun!"

"I'm so glad you feel that way, Hildegard," Ms. Flora started with a sneaky smile, drawing a name from a bag. "Because you will be paired with Desmond."

Desmond seemed particularly frightened at that point. Not that he didn't like the princess, but there were other royal students he got along with much better. He cast a longing look toward Amber, who smiled and shrugged.

"Desmond?" Hildegard scoffed and fluffed her hair. "If I must."

"Good luck, buddy," James whispered to the other boy. "I feel for ya."

" _Thanks_ , James," Desmond whispered back with a pout.

"Clio, you will be partnered with Kari."

The brunette couldn't be happier with her partner, as she and Kari had gotten along well during their play a few months ago. The girls giggled and gave each other a nod.

"Sofia," Ms. Flora started again, glancing at her bag as she pulled out another name, "you and Khalid will be working together."

Khalid smiled pleasantly toward the princess, who returned the smile. "This should be fun!"

Sofia laughed. "As long as it doesn't involve you solving any _riddles_ , then we'll be fine," she teased playfully.

"James…" The fairy reached into her bag and pulled out a new name. She chuckled at the result. "Oh, well, I guess this may prove interesting. James, you'll be working with Amber."

Amber gave her teacher a look of dismay. "Can I have a re-draw, Ms. Flora?"

"What's the matter, Amber?" James teased, grinning. "Scared you'll find out that we're more alike than you think?"

The older twin rolled her eyes. "Twin or no, you and I are nowhere near being alike."

Sofia smiled secretively. "I'm not so sure about that, Amber…"

Ms. Flora laughed softly. "Anyway, continuing on—Vivian, you'll be paired up with Zandar." The list went on until the entire class had a partner. "Remember now, have your results by Friday. It's Wednesday now, so you don't have a moment to lose."

"Great, just great," Amber complained as she gathered her books after class. "As if we don't see each other every day, have the same birthday, and share a castle together—now we have to do an assignment together too!"

James rolled his eyes as he also collected his books and followed his sister out of the room. "What's the big deal, Amber?" he asked, smiling. "I'm an awesome partner!"

"You, Zandar, and Khalid got a 'D' on your last project, James. If I remember correctly, it was supposed to be about the history of knights…"

"Yeah! We did that."

"You blew up the teacher's desk!"

"Hey! Every _good_ knight should have access to a cannon. We were just trying to make a point." He grinned as the other blonde sighed in exasperation. "Besides, after we served our detention…and pleaded for that 'D' instead of an 'F'—not to mention expulsion…and we learned our lesson. So there won't be any cannons in this project. I promise."

"Oh, good. I was worried." Amber sighed as they walked through the main doors and outside. "Let's just get home so we can get this project done." She glanced around. "Where's Sofia?"

James nodded back toward their younger sister, who trailed behind them while talking to Khalid. "Making plans with her partner, I guess. Hey, Sof! You coming?"

Sofia waved toward them and smiled. "Hey, can you guys tell Mom and Dad I need to stay here for a little bit with Khalid to get this project done? It shouldn't take us very long, and he said his coachman can drop me off at the castle."

Amber frowned. "Are you sure, Sofia? Why not just wait until tomorrow?"

The other girl sighed. "Because I still have other homework to focus on…as do you, Amber. I'd suggest not waiting too long to get this project done." She grinned. "At least you _live_ with your partner. Shouldn't be too hard, right?" She waved as Khalid beckoned her back into the school.

"I love how everyone thinks us being paired together as project partners is so easy," the older twin grumbled, folding her arms as she marched toward the coach with James following her.

"It's not _that_ bad, Amber. Look at it this way: at least you didn't get Zoey." He grinned as they both stepped into the coach and settled in. "Finding something you two have in common would be really hard."

"Very funny." She leaned against the seat and yawned, draping her backpack on her lap as the coach took off.

Back in Enchancia, the dinner table was set as sunset approached. Roland and Miranda watched with amusement as the twins struggled with their assignment while waiting on the food to arrive.

"Favorite color?" James asked as he wrote their responses. "Green for me. How about you?"

"Well, _amber_ , of course," she replied with a smile. "And gold. And sometimes baby blue…"

"So that's not a match then," the prince deduced as he continued searching for similarities. "Well, we could use our birthday!"

"Too easy," Amber admonished, shaking her head. "Sure, you can use it, but they want us to dig a little deeper, I'm sure." She tapped her fork against the tablecloth. "Favorite…past times?" She giggled as he gave her an excited look. "Let me guess: cannons, playing with Rex, more cannons, enjoying time with friends…"

"Hey, I don't _just_ like cannons. I also like fencing!"

"Yes, I've noticed. And dazzleball…" She smiled fondly. "…Which is something we actually have in common, isn't it?"

James grinned. "And let's write it down! Awesome." He scribbled the similarity onto his parchment. "Great! Now we just need to keep seeing what else we have in common."

"How about you do that _after_ you eat?" Roland suggested as he gestured toward the food that was being served.

"Oh, right." James placed their assignment on the floor before picking up his utensils and grinning at the meal before him. "Works for me!"

Amber rolled her eyes and picked up her napkin. "Really refined, James."

The prince grinned with a mouthful of potatoes after having been served. " _Fanks_!"

"Ugh. Boys."

Sofia arrived home about an hour later, having eaten already thanks to Ms. Flora. She happily took off to visit her favorite sorcerer.

Meanwhile, Amber reclined against her pillows with the checklist while James lay at the foot of her bed, tossing a tennis ball into the air and catching it. The princess rolled her eyes at her brother's lack of focus. "James, we need to go ahead and finish this."

"I know, Amber," he agreed with a laugh, catching the tennis ball again. "I'm all ears."

She sighed. "I just… I give up. Aside from genetics and a love of dazzleball, we don't have much in common."

James frowned and sat up. "Are you kidding?"

"Face it, James. You and I are as different as night and day—and sometimes it's hard to believe we _are_ twins."

He shook his head, chuckling. "Amber, I can't believe you don't see it!"

She blinked at his reaction. "See what?"

"We may not be _exactly_ alike, but we have a _lot_ in common." He crawled over to her and took her list, writing some things down. "For starters, you and I are both highly competitive, in same and different areas."

Amber nodded, agreeing with him on that remark.

"We're both stubborn. We're both athletic. And we both get into trouble with Baileywick a lot."

She giggled. "I'd say that's more you than me, and besides, I only get into trouble if _you_ drag me into it."

James grinned. "That's what brothers are for, I guess!" He wrote a few more things down. "We're both really nice, until someone makes us mad…well, that's more you than me, but it's true for me too. _And_ don't forget the things you and I share that a lot of other kids don't." His amused look turned into a thoughtful one. "I'd say you and I have been through more things than many of those other kids at Royal Prep have, Amber."

Catching his meaning, she nodded quietly. True. Losing their mother, gaining two new family members, meeting revered princesses, adventures beyond school-related projects, and so much more made them very different from the other students. "I…guess you have a point," she laughed softly. She then smiled, trying to alleviate the sudden seriousness of the room. "I think we have enough now, James. And…you were right." She took the list back from him. "We really do have more in common than I thought."

He grinned again. "Similar genes, similar train of thought… Works for me! Oh, and I know one more thing we both have in common." He leaned over the side of her bed and picked up a heavy book.

Amber smiled and shook her head as he settled beside her again. "The love of a good story?"

"Yep! And with Wassailia coming up, I think it's time to get in the holiday spirit. What do you think?" He opened up the book, holding it out for them to see.

The princess laughed. "Sure, James."

He began reading, recalling their well-known story of how the season began.

"…So it turns out that we actually do have a few things in common," Hildegard recited as Desmond stood next to her, looking both proud and nervous at the same time. "Who knew Desmond had such a refined taste in shoes?"

The boy blushed. "O-Only that one pair for special occasions," he added, laughing shyly.

"Oh, don't be so modest, Desmond. Be _proud_ of them!"

"Thank you, Hildegard and Desmond," Ms. Flora chuckled as the students returned to their desks.

"Fancy shoes, huh?" Amber teased playfully as she tapped Desmond on the shoulder. "You sure impressed Hildy!"

Desmond turned to her and laughed. "It took six hours to find something we had in common…and when she saw those shoes, I thought she was going to leave my castle with them."

James grinned. "Hildegard the Shoe Thief. That's kind of hilarious!"

"James, Amber, you're up!"

Amber stood with her clipboard while James followed her with a book in his hands. As they stood, Sofia gave them a smile of encouragement.

"We may be twins," James started, "but we're _so_ different from each other. I could honestly never see Amber using a sword unless someone stole her tiara collection."

The class laughed, and even Ms. Flora had to chuckle at that.

Amber rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "But besides that, we did find out that we had a lot in common too…more so than I thought possible. For starters, we're both decent at magic thanks to Sofia."

Sofia giggled.

James continued, "We love dazzleball and being in charge."

"We're stubborn to a fault, but have good intentions."

"We both enjoy reading stories from our younger years every now and then, and playing with our pets."

Amber nodded. "And yes, it's true: same birthday, same hair color, same lots of things… But there's one more thing we share in common that seems to make us bond together a bit more: the experiences we have. James and I have both been through a lot, but we have both learned many lessons and honestly changed for the better." She winked at her twin. "I guess that's one of the good things about having a twin: someone's always there for you, and he'll always know what you're going through."

James grinned. "Yep."

Ms. Flora smiled fondly as the class clapped. "What a wonderful outcome, James and Amber. I'm glad you both found so many similarities aside from your familial ones."

"Me too," the prince added, "because I could _not_ fail another test. I never would have heard the end of it."

"Oh, James," Amber sighed, rolling her eyes.

The end

A/N: Hehe. Okay, I'm going to be really busy this upcoming week. I graduate a week from today (YAY!), and we have midterms we're giving at my school, so goodness knows that's going to be crazy. BUT keep an eye out, because I have a very special Wassailia/Christmas-based story coming up within the next couple of weeks. I've already started on it. And it WILL be out before Christmas. :) No details on it yet, because I want it to be a surprise. :p Hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks for all the feedback. Till next time! ~AquaTurquoise


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